CARONI RIVER

river in northwestern Trinidad Island, in the Trinidad and Tobago group in the southern Caribbean Sea. It rises near Valencia on the southern edge of the Northern Range uplands and flows roughly west to empty via the saline mangrove channels of the Caroni Swamp into the Gulf of Paria, between Trinidad and Venezuela, a mile or so south of Port of Spain. It drains the area between the Northern and Central ranges. Its length is about 25 miles (40 km), and it is partly navigable by flat-bottomed boats. In 1592 St. Joseph, on the Caroni's banks, became the first Spanish settlement.